Methods and systems for personalized information content and delivery

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems described in this disclosure are directed to creating a profile for a user that includes information content rules and information delivery rules. Upon detecting a triggering event, a set of information is created for the user based on the information content rules. The information is delivered to the user according to the information delivery rules.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/261,406, filed on Jan. 29, 2019, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FORPERSONALIZED INFORMATION CONTENT AND DELIVERY,” now allowed, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/901,504, filed onFeb. 21, 2018, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PERSONALIZEDINFORMATION CONTENT AND DELIVERY,” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,237,707 onMar. 19, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/452,042, filed on Mar. 7, 2017, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FORPERSONALIZED INFORMATION CONTENT AND DELIVERY,” issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,942,736, on Apr. 10, 2018, which is a non-provisional of and claimspriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/306,210, filed on Mar.10, 2016, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PERSONALIZED INFORMATIONCONTENT AND DELIVERY,” each of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Various embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate toinformation management. More specifically, various embodiments of thepresent disclosure relate to methods and systems for personalized,automated collection and delivery of information.

BACKGROUND

Many companies provide customer access to customer accounts when thecustomer presents the proper credentials. The customer may log in to amobile application or a website portal and check the status of a claim,account, transfer, trade, or other account activity. Sometimes, the usercan call the company to request such information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described and explainedthrough the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network-based operating environmentin accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates various components of a computing device that may beused in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates various components of a personalized informationcollection and delivery engine that may be used in accordance withvarious embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations for personalizedinformation collection and delivery in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations for personalizedinformation collection and delivery in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a computer system with which someembodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate toinformation management. More specifically, various embodiments of thepresent disclosure relate to methods and systems for personalized,automated collection and delivery of information.

Many companies provide customer access to customer accounts when thecustomer presents the proper credentials. The customer may log in to amobile application or a website portal and check the status of a claim,account, transfer, trade, bill payment, or other account activity.Sometimes, the user can call the company to request such information.However, receiving such information by means of calling or readingrequires inconvenient action (e.g., dialing, reading) on the part of theuser. Systems and methods disclosed herein gather and deliver customizedinformation to the customer with little to no effort from the customer.Allowing users to receive such information without logging into anaccount (e.g., on the way to work, while working out at the gym)provides better options for staying aware of what is happening in theuser's internal (e.g., personal accounts, credit cards) and external(e.g., stock market, financial trends) financial world.

A profile can be created by or for a user that includes informationcontent rules and information delivery rules to create and deliverpersonalized financial updates to the user. The updates can be deliveredto the user when the user typically could not receive such information(e.g., while working out at the gym, grocery shopping, commuting to andfrom work, skiing, waiting in line, cooking dinner).

The information content rules and the information deliver rulesdetermine the personalized information to be gathered for a user and howto deliver the information to the user. The personalized information caninclude information such as a status of an account, financial advice, areminder to pay a bill, a reminder to deposit a check, a warningregarding the account, a recap of spending over a period of time, or anadvertisement of a product or service. The information may be based onfactors such as the location of the user, content of information lastsent to the user, preferences, priority of the information, andcategories of information.

A trigger (e.g., location of the user, time of day, word or phrasespoken into a device) can be detected, signaling that the informationshould be created (if it is not already created) and delivered to theuser's device. The information delivery rules can determine which device(e.g., vehicle, mobile device, tablet) to deliver the information to andhow (e.g., podcast, webcast, audio file, video file) it should bedelivered. In some embodiments, prior to delivery of the information,the user must provide authentication credentials. When theauthentication credentials are incorrect, the information will not beprovided to the user. However, when the authentication credentials arecorrect, the user can access the information. In some embodiments,various levels of authentication can be used (e.g., if the informationis confidential, more the user is required to provide certaincredentials). In some embodiments, when another person is detected in anarea of the user, the information delivery rules may prohibit the userfrom receiving the information until authentication credentials arereceived.

In an example, the user may typically receive a financial update whileon the way to work. When the user's vehicle or mobile device is detectedto be at a specific intersection around a certain time (e.g., 7:15a.m.), the user can receive the update. Depending on the day of the weekor occurrences in the user's finances, the user may receive differenttypes of information (e.g., spending report, account summary, stocktrends). The user can receive the information via the user's radio,vehicle, mobile device, and/or computer in various manners (e.g.,podcast, video chat, webcast). The method of delivery can depend onfactors such as the user's location, the type of information, userpreferences, time of day, and presence of others.

This disclosure describes systems and methods designed to increase theavailability of customer information. Various embodiments may provideone or more of the following technological improvements: 1) improvedefficiency in collecting and delivering information to users; 2)automation in delivering customer-specific information, resulting infewer representative calls; 3) real-time or near real-time delivery ofcustomer-specific information; and 4) an information collection anddelivery process that is adaptable to multiple channels, includingmobile applications, websites, podcasts, and radio channels, as well asdevices such as smart appliances, and voice command devices (e.g.,Amazon Echo).

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. However, to oneskilled in the art, it will be apparent on reading the disclosure thatembodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details.

Moreover, the techniques introduced here can be embodied asspecial-purpose hardware (e.g., circuitry), as programmable circuitryappropriately programmed with software and/or firmware, or as acombination of special-purpose and programmable circuitry. Hence,embodiments may include a machine-readable medium having stored thereoninstructions that may be used to program a computer (or other electronicdevices) to perform a process. The machine-readable medium may include,but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, compact discread-only memories (CD-ROMs), magneto-optical disks, read-only memories(ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), erasable programmable read-onlymemories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories(EEPROMs), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type ofmedia/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronicinstructions.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network-based operating environment100 in which some embodiments of the present disclosure may be used. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, operating environment 100 may includeapplications 105A-105N running on one or more computing devices110A-110M (e.g., a mobile device; a mobile phone; a telephone; a tabletcomputer; a mobile media device; a mobile gaming device; a vehicle-basedcomputer; a dedicated terminal; a public terminal, a desktop, or alaptop computer; a kiosk; a wearable device such as a smartwatch). Insome embodiments, applications 105A-105N may be stored on one or morecomputing devices 110A-110M or may be stored remotely on a server (inthe “cloud”). These computing devices can include mechanisms forreceiving and sending traffic by connecting through network 115 topersonalized information collection and delivery engine 120 and datastores 125 and 130.

Computing devices 110A-110M may be configured to communicate via thenetwork 115 with personalized information collection and delivery engine120. In some embodiments, computing devices 110A-110M can retrieve orsubmit information to personalized information collection and deliveryengine 120 and run one or more applications with customized contentretrieved by personalized information collection and delivery engine 120and data stores 125 and 130. For example, computing devices 110A-110Mcan execute a browser application or a customized client to enableinteraction between the computing devices 110A-110M, personalizedinformation collection and delivery engine 120, and data stores 125 and130.

In some embodiments, personalized information collection and deliveryengine 120 can be a server remotely located from the computing devices110A-110M. Personalized information collection and delivery engine 120can be running on one or more servers and can be used to generate userprofiles with information content and delivery rules, detect and/orreceive triggers for creation and delivery of content, gather and createcontent, deliver content, store user profiles and/or financial data indata stores 125 and 130, and/or perform other activities.

Network 115 can be any combination of local area and/or wide areanetworks, using wired and/or wireless communication systems. Network 115can be, or could use, any or more protocols/technologies: Ethernet, IEEE802.11 or Wi-Fi, worldwide interoperability for microwave access(WiMAX), cellular telecommunication (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G), CDMA, cable,digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocolsused on network 115 may include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS),transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User DatagramProtocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), and file transfer protocol (FTP). Data exchanged overnetwork 115 may be represented using technologies, languages, and/orformats, including hypertext markup language (HTML) or extensible markuplanguage (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encrypted usingconventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer (SSL),transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security (IPsec).

Data stores 125 and 130 can be used to manage storage and access to datasuch as user profiles, location information, information that has beenpreviously sent to the user, user preferences, financial and personaldata, data received from third parties, and other information. Datastores 125 and 130 may be a data repository of a set of integratedobjects that are modeled using classes defined in database schemas. Datastores 125 and 130 may further include flat files that can store data.Personalized information collection and delivery engine 120 and/or otherservers may collect and/or access data from the data stores 125 and 130.Information provided by users can be stored in data stores 125 and 130.

FIG. 2 illustrates a set of components 200 within one or more computingdevices 110A-110M of a user. According to the embodiments shown in FIG.2, computing devices 110A-110M can include memory 205, one or moreprocessors 210, operating system 215, application 220, communicationsmodule 225, and GUI generation module 230. Other embodiments of thepresent invention may include some, all, or none of these modules andcomponents, along with other modules, applications, and/or components.Still yet, some embodiments may incorporate two or more of these modulesand components into a single module and/or associate a portion of thefunctionality of one or more of these modules with a different module.

Memory 205 can store instructions for running one or more applicationsor modules on processor(s) 210. For example, memory 205 could be used inone or more embodiments to house all or some of the instructions neededto execute the functionality of operating system 215, application 220,communications module 225, and GUI generation module 230. Generally,memory 205 can include any device, mechanism, or populated datastructure used for storing information. In accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure, memory 205 can encompass, but isnot limited to, any type of volatile memory, nonvolatile memory (RAM),and dynamic memory. For example, memory 205 can be random access memory,memory storage devices, optical memory devices, magnetic media, floppydisks, magnetic tapes, hard drives, SIMMs, SDRAM, DIMMs, RDRAM, DDR RAM,SODIMMS, EPROMs, EEPROMs, compact discs, DVDs, and/or the like. Inaccordance with some embodiments, memory 205 may include one or moredisk drives, flash drives, one or more databases, one or more tables,one or more files, local cache memories, processor cache memories,relational databases, flat databases, and/or the like. In addition,those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate many additionaldevices and techniques for storing information that can be used asmemory 205.

Operating system 215 can provide a software package that is capable ofmanaging the hardware resources of computing devices 110A-110M.Operating system 215 can also provide common services for softwareapplications running on processor(s) 210. In accordance with variousembodiments, operating system 215 can coordinate resources for multipleapplications 220 that allow a user to access and interact withpersonalized information collection and delivery engine 120. Forexample, application 220 can include an application for financialservices, a money transfer application, a social networking application,and a gaming application.

Application 220 can access a server and/or a platform associated with anorganization (e.g., personalized information collection and deliveryengine 120) to receive data (e.g., a podcast of the status of an accounta radio message that includes financial advice, a reminder to pay a billand/or to deposit a check, a warning regarding the account, or anadvertisement of a product or service); and display, request, and/orcollect authentication information and confirmations. Application 220can receive an authentication level from authentication module 340required to allow the user to access the information, particularly ifthe information includes confidential information such as financialaccount status information, advice, or reminders. Application 220 mayprovide various methods of authentication (e.g., user identifier,password, code, fingerprint or other biometric). In some embodiments,authentication is unnecessary.

Communications module 225 facilitates communication with personalizedinformation collection and delivery engine 120. Communications module225 can use wireless communication methods such as a near fieldcommunication (NFC), Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Communications module 225 canreceive the financial updates such as financial account statusinformation, advice, reminders, advertisements, or other informationfrom personalized information collection and delivery engine 120. In anexample, the communications module 225 can receive a personalizedpodcast and transmit it via a radio channel.

In some embodiments, communications module 225 can determine thelocation of the user. Such information may trigger the content anddelivery of information to the user. In some embodiments, communicationsmodule 225 can have geolocation (e.g., GPS) capabilities. In suchembodiments, a user's computing device can determine a location of theuser based on the geolocation capability and/or other information (e.g.,network detection, visual indications, audio indications). This locationinformation can be conveyed to personalized information collection anddelivery engine 120. For example, communications module 225 maydetermine that the user is at the gym, at home, driving, or at aparticular intersection.

GUI generation module 230 can generate one or more GUI screens thatallow for interaction with a user. In at least one embodiment, GUIgeneration module 230 generates a graphical user interface receivingand/or conveying information (e.g., financial information, preferencesfor content and delivery of financial information) to the user'scomputing device 110A-110M.

FIG. 3 illustrates a set of components 120 within a system such aspersonalized information collection and delivery engine 120. In someembodiments, these components can be included in a server maintained bythe entity that owns and operates personalized information collectionand delivery engine 120. According to the embodiments shown in FIG. 3,personalized information collection and delivery engine 120 can includememory 305, one or more processors 310, profile module 315, triggermodule 320, location determination module 325, analysis module 330,communications module 335, authentication module 340, and GUI generationmodule 345. Other embodiments of the present invention may include some,all, or none of these modules and components, along with other modules,applications, and/or components. Still yet, some embodiments mayincorporate two or more of these modules and components into a singlemodule and/or associate a portion of the functionality of one or more ofthese modules with a different module.

Memory 305 can be any device, mechanism, or populated data structureused for storing information, as described above for memory 205. Memory305 can store instructions for running one or more applications ormodules on processor(s) 310. For example, memory 305 could be used inone or more embodiments to house all or some of the instructions neededto execute the functionality of profile module 315, trigger module 320,location determination module 325, analysis module 330, communicationsmodule 335, authentication module 340, and GUI generation module 345.

Profile module 315 builds a profile for a user. The profile can includecontent rules that define what content is to be included in a delivery,including information that is typically found only after logging into anaccount. Content can include the status of an account, financial advice,a reminder to pay a bill, a reminder to deposit a check, a warningregarding an account, an advertisement of a product or service, or otherinformation. Information can be collected from various sources such asinsurance accounts, bank accounts, retirement accounts, websites, theuser's communications, historical advice shared with the user, billpayees, and representative notes.

Profile module 315 can further include information delivery rules.Information delivery rules can govern how information is transmitted tothe user and on what device (e.g., mobile device, vehicle intercomsystem, radio broadcast, podcast, webcast).

The content rules and the information delivery rules can include rulesthat define the information provided to the user and how the informationis provided to the user. The information content and deliver may bebased on one or more triggers, as well as other factors. Triggers mayinclude a time of day (e.g., 7:00 a.m.) on a particular day of the week(e.g., Wednesday), a calendar day (e.g., 15th day of the month), aparticular location (e.g., at a stoplight, at work, in the car), and alocation of the user. The other factors may include the information thatwas previously sent, circumstances surrounding the user (e.g., is theuser alone?), an amount of time the user has available, userpreferences, and a priority of information.

Trigger module 320 can receive and/or detect information and triggersthat begin the creation of information content for the user and thedelivery of the content to the user. In an example, a trigger mayinclude the user being present at a certain location (e.g., a certainintersection, the gym) at or around a certain time of day (e.g., between7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.). The location may be detected by locationdetermination module 325. When the user is at a particular location, theinformation content rules may be triggered to create information for theuser, and the information delivery rules may deliver the information ina certain format or to a certain device. As an example, if the user isat a certain stoplight at or around 8:00 a.m., the user mayautomatically receive an account update (e.g., “Your 401K gained $500yesterday. Your 401K account has $35,000. You are on track to have$300,000 in your account by 2040.”). The information delivery rules maydictate that the user receive the account update via a radio channel ifthe user is driving a certain vehicle or via the user's mobile device ifthe user is in a different vehicle. If the user is not at thatparticular location within the particular time period, the informationcontent may not be sent to the user (e.g., the user may have a day offfrom work or may be traveling). Trigger module 320 provides triggerinformation to analysis module 330 to create the information content forthe user.

Trigger module 320 can also receive information pertinent to informationcontent and delivery. For example, trigger module 320 can receive ordetect whether another party is present (e.g., detecting a second mobiledevice in the user's vehicle). Such information can be processed byanalysis module 330 to determine whether the information should bemodified or simply not delivered according to the content andinformation delivery rules.

In some embodiments, the trigger is receiving certain words from theuser. For example, the user could say “Please give me an account status”and the user could receive a balance of all the accounts, a measure ofhow close the user is to over drafting and other account-relatedinformation. The trigger words may be defined by the user in the user'sprofile.

Location determination module 325 determines a location of the user andreports the location to trigger module 320. In some embodiments, thelocation may be received from communications module 225 and/orcommunications module 335. The user's location can be detected usingvarious methods such as a Wi-Fi signal, an RFID signal, an NFC signal, asatellite signal, a cellular signal, or a Bluetooth signal.

Analysis module 330 takes the information collected (e.g., from triggermodule 320, data in a database, other received information), applies theinformation content rules, and creates the content to be delivered tothe user. Analysis module 330 may flag information in the database forfollow-up. For example, if the user received advice to diversify theuser's 401K, such information may be flagged in the database to checkthe user's 401K in one month to determine whether the user has adheredto the advice. If not, future information content can include the samesuggestion. In some embodiments, analysis module 330 creates informationcontent prior to receiving a trigger and delivers the information uponthe trigger. In other embodiments, analysis module 330 creates theinformation content upon receiving the trigger (and includes informationbased upon the trigger).

Analysis module 330 can take the information collected (e.g., fromtrigger module 320, data in a database, other received information),apply the information delivery rules, and determine whether theinformation should be delivered to the user, and, if so, how theinformation should be delivered. In an example, if a second device isdetected in the user's vehicle, the information delivery rules mayprevent the information from being delivered, may change content beforedelivery, or may require authentication or heightened authenticationbefore delivery. In other embodiments, information may indicate that theuser is at home (e.g., home network is detected), and under suchcircumstances, the information delivery rules dictate thatauthentication is unnecessary and that the information can be deliveredto the user through the user's home speaker system.

In some embodiments, analysis module 330 may determine that noinformation should be sent. For example, when the user's location isdetermined to be in a foreign country, or the user's calendar statesthat the user is on vacation, the information may not be provided to theuser. In some embodiments, the information is presented to the user andthe user has an opportunity to interact with an avatar. The avatar canoffer advice, set up meetings, and/or gather additional information forthe user.

Communications module 335 delivers the information according to theinformation delivery rules when a trigger is received from triggermodule 320, and so long as authentication module 340 collects andverifies authentication credentials if needed.

Authentication module 340 receives information from analysis module 330regarding a level of authentication needed for the user to access theinformation. The authentication level may depend on various factors suchas a location of the user (e.g., determined by network 115, GPS,signal), a detection of other people or devices surrounding the user,identity of those surrounding the user, content of the information,and/or format of delivery.

GUI generation module 345 can generate one or more GUI screens thatallow for interaction with a user. In at least one embodiment, GUIgeneration module 345 generates a graphical user interface receivingand/or conveying information to the user. For example, GUI generationmodule 345 may display the user's preferences, the devices associatedwith the user, and authentication information received or needed fromthe user.

FIGS. 4-5 are flowcharts illustrating sets of operations forpersonalized information content and delivery. In some embodiments,fewer than all of the operations in each set of operations areperformed, whereas in other embodiments additional operations areperformed. Moreover, in some embodiments, the operations may beperformed in different orders or in parallel. The operations can beperformed by various components of personalized information collectionand delivery engine 120 and device 200 such as those illustrated in FIG.2 and/or FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations 400 for creatingand delivering personalized content to users. Creating operation 405creates a profile of the information that the user would like to receiveand how the user would like to receive the information. Collectingoperation 410 collects information regarding what information haspreviously been sent to the user, what information should be sent (e.g.,bills that are due shortly), and the surroundings of the user, includingother devices/people. Creating operation 415 creates content accordingto one or more content rules, taking into consideration informationcollected. Delivering operation 420 delivers the content to the useraccording to a set of delivery rules.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a set of operations 500 for creatingand delivering personalized content to users. Creating operation 505creates a profile of the information that the user would like to receiveand how the user would like to receive the information. Detectingoperation 510 detects a trigger (e.g., location of the user). Creatingoperation 515 creates content according to one or more content rules,taking into consideration information collected. Delivering operation520 delivers the content to the user according to a set of deliveryrules.

Decision operation 525 determines whether authentication is needed. Whenauthentication is not needed, decision operation 525 branches totransmitting operation 530 where the content is transmitted. Whenauthentication is needed, decision operation 525 branches to requestingoperation 535 where authentication is requested. The type ofauthentication may be determined by information received in the trigger(e.g., location of user). Delivering operation 540 delivers the contentafter the user has been authenticated.

Computer System Overview

Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps andoperations, which have been described above. A variety of these stepsand operations may be performed by hardware components, or they may beembodied in machine-executable instructions that may be used to cause ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with theinstructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may beperformed by a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Assuch, FIG. 6 is an example of a computer system 600 with whichembodiments of the present disclosure may be utilized. According to thepresent example, the computer system 600 includes an interconnect 610,at least one processor 620, at least one communication port 630, a mainmemory 640, a removable storage media 650, a read-only memory 660, and amass storage device 670.

Processor(s) 620 can be any known processor, such as, but not limitedto, an Intel® Itanium® or Itanium 2® processor(s), or AMD® Opteron® orAthlon MP® processor(s), or Motorola® lines of processors. Communicationport(s) 630 can be any of an RS-232 port for use with a modem-baseddial-up connection, a 10/100 Ethernet port, or a Gigabit port usingcopper or fiber. Communication port(s) 630 may be chosen, depending on anetwork such a Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or anynetwork to which the computer system 600 connects.

Main memory 6401140 can be Random Access Memory (RAM) or any otherdynamic storage device(s) commonly known in the art. Read only memory660 can be any static storage device(s), such as programmable read onlymemory (PROM) chips for storing static information, such as instructionsfor processor(s) 620.

Mass storage device 670 can be used to store information andinstructions. For example, hard disks such as the Adaptec® family ofSCSI drives, an optical disc, an array of disks such as RAID, theAdaptec family of RAID drives, or any other mass storage devices may beused.

Interconnect 610 communicatively couples processor(s) 620 with the othermemory, storage, and communication blocks. Interconnect 610 can be aPCI/PCI-X- or SCSI-based system bus, depending on the storage devicesused.

Removable storage media 650 can be any kind of external hard-drives,floppy drives, USB drives, IOMEGA® Zip Drives, Compact Disc-Read OnlyMemory (CD-ROM), Compact Disc-Re-Writable (CD-RW), or Digital VideoDisc-Read Only Memory (DVD-ROM).

The components described above are meant to exemplify some types ofpossibilities. In no way should the aforementioned examples limit thedisclosure, as they are only exemplary embodiments.

Terminology

Brief definitions of terms, abbreviations, and phrases used throughoutthis application and the appendices are given below.

The terms “connected” or “coupled” and related terms are used in anoperational sense and are not necessarily limited to a direct physicalconnection or coupling. Thus, for example, two devices may be coupleddirectly or via one or more intermediary media or devices. As anotherexample, devices may be coupled in such a way that information can bepassed there between, while not sharing any physical connection with oneanother. Based on the disclosure provided herein, one of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate a variety of ways in which connection orcoupling exists in accordance with the aforementioned definition.

The phrases “in some embodiments,” “according to some embodiments,” “inthe embodiments shown,” “in other embodiments,” “embodiments,” and thelike generally mean that the particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic following the phrase is included in at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure and may be included in more thanone embodiment of the present disclosure. In addition, such phrases donot necessarily refer to the same embodiments or to differentembodiments.

If the specification states a component or feature “may,” “can,”“could,” or “might” be included or have a characteristic, thatparticular component or feature is not required to be included or havethe characteristic.

The term “responsive” includes completely or partially responsive.

The term “module” refers broadly to a software, hardware, or firmware(or any combination thereof) component. Modules are typically functionalcomponents that can generate useful data or other output using specifiedinput(s). A module may or may not be self-contained. An applicationprogram (also called an “application”) may include one or more modules,or a module can include one or more application programs.

The term “network” generally refers to a group of interconnected devicescapable of exchanging information. A network may be as few as severalpersonal computers on a Local Area Network (LAN) or as large as theInternet, a worldwide network of computers. As used herein, “network” isintended to encompass any network capable of transmitting informationfrom one entity to another. In some cases, a network may be comprised ofmultiple networks, even multiple heterogeneous networks, such as one ormore border networks, voice networks, broadband networks, financialnetworks, service provider networks, Internet Service Provider (ISP)networks, and/or Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTNs)interconnected via gateways operable to facilitate communicationsbetween and among the various networks.

Also, for the sake of illustration, various embodiments of the presentdisclosure have herein been described in the context of computerprograms, physical components, and logical interactions within moderncomputer networks. Importantly, while these embodiments describe variousembodiments of the present disclosure in relation to modern computernetworks and programs, the method and apparatus described herein areequally applicable to other systems, devices, and networks, as oneskilled in the art will appreciate. As such, the illustratedapplications of the embodiments of the present disclosure are not meantto be limiting, but instead are examples. Other systems, devices, andnetworks to which embodiments of the present disclosure are applicableinclude, but are not limited to, other types of communication andcomputer devices and systems. More specifically, embodiments areapplicable to communication systems, services, and devices such as cellphone networks and compatible devices. In addition, embodiments areapplicable to all levels of computing, from the personal computer tolarge network mainframes and servers.

In conclusion, the present disclosure discloses novel systems, methods,and arrangements for personalizing information collection and deliveryto a user. While detailed descriptions of one or more embodiments of thedisclosure have been given above, various alternatives, modifications,and equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art withoutvarying from the spirit of the disclosure. For example, while theembodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope ofthis disclosure also includes embodiments having different combinationsof features and embodiments that do not include all of the describedfeatures. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intendedto embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fallwithin the scope of the claims, together with all equivalents thereof.Therefore, the above description should not be taken as limiting.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a trigger relatingto a remote subscriber at a server sent from a data source over theInternet, in response to receiving the trigger: generating a set ofinformation to be delivered to a device associated with the remotesubscriber based on information content rules, wherein the device isdistinct from the remote subscriber; determining to which deviceassociated with the remote subscriber to transmit the set of informationand a format in which to transmit the set of information, wherein theformat is selected from at least one of the following: podcast, webcast, audio file, text message, or video file, wherein informationdelivery rules determine the device and the format based at least inpart on a location of the remote subscriber, a presence of other devicesnot owned by the remote subscriber, and a time of day; and transmittingthe set of information after authenticating the remote subscriber to alevel, wherein the level is based on the location of the remotesubscriber and the presence of other devices not owned by the remotesubscriber.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the triggercomprises detecting the location of the remote subscriber, wherein thelocation of the remote subscriber is detected using at least one of: aWi-Fi signal, an RFID signal, an NFC signal, a satellite signal, or acellular signal.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising detectinga presence of a second device, wherein the information content rulesfurther determine the set of information based on the presence of thesecond device, wherein the location of the remote subscriber isdetermined from the device or the second device.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the set of information comprises at least one of: a status ofan account, financial advice, a reminder to pay a bill, a reminder todeposit a check, a warning regarding the account, a recap of spendingover a period of time, or an advertisement of a product or service. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the device is one of: a radio, a mobilecomputing device, a laptop, a wearable computing device, or a vehicle.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the informationcontent rules and the information delivery rules in a profile associatedwith the remote subscriber.
 7. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium containing a set of instructions that, when executed byone or more processors, cause the one or more processors to performoperations comprising: receiving a trigger relating to a remotesubscriber at a server sent from a data source over the Internet, inresponse to receiving the trigger: generating a set of information to bedelivered to a device associated with the remote subscriber based oninformation content rules, wherein the device is distinct from theremote subscriber; determining to which device associated with theremote subscriber to transmit the set of information and a format inwhich to transmit the set of information, wherein the format is selectedfrom at least one of the following: podcast, web cast, audio file, textmessage, or video file, wherein information delivery rules determine thedevice and the format based at least in part on a location of the remotesubscriber and a presence of other devices not owned by the remotesubscriber; and transmitting the set of information after authenticatingthe remote subscriber to a level, wherein the level is based on thelocation of the remote subscriber and the presence of other devices notowned by the remote subscriber.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 7, wherein receiving the trigger comprisesdetecting the location of the remote subscriber, wherein the location ofthe remote subscriber is detected using at least one of: a Wi-Fi signal,an RFID signal, an NFC signal, a satellite signal, or a cellular signal.9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7,wherein the operations further comprise detecting a presence of a seconddevice, wherein the information content rules further determine the setof information based on the presence of the second device, wherein thelocation of the remote subscriber is determined from the device or thesecond device.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 7, wherein the set of information comprises at least one of: astatus of an account, financial advice, a reminder to pay a bill, areminder to deposit a check, a warning regarding the account, a recap ofspending over a period of time, or an advertisement of a product orservice.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 7, wherein the device is one of: a radio, a mobile computingdevice, a laptop, a wearable computing device, or a vehicle.
 12. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein theoperations further comprise storing the information content rules andthe information delivery rules in a profile associated with the remotesubscriber.
 13. An information collection and delivery system,comprising: one or more processors; and a computer readable storagemedium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by theone or more processors cause the information collection and deliverysystem to: receive a trigger relating to a remote subscriber at a serversent from a data source over the Internet, in response to receiving thetrigger: generate a set of information to be delivered to a deviceassociated with the remote subscriber based on information contentrules, wherein the device is distinct from the remote subscriber;determine to which device associated with the remote subscriber totransmit the set of information and a format in which to transmit theset of information, wherein the format is selected from at least one ofthe following: podcast, web cast, audio file, text message, or videofile, wherein information delivery rules determine the device and theformat based at least in part on a location of the remote subscriber anda presence of other devices not owned by the remote subscriber; andtransmit the set of information after authenticating the remotesubscriber to a level, wherein the level is based on the location of theremote subscriber and the presence of other devices not owned by theremote subscriber.
 14. The information collection and delivery system ofclaim 13, wherein receiving the trigger comprises detecting the locationof the remote subscriber, wherein the location of the remote subscriberis detected using at least one of: a Wi-Fi signal, an RFID signal, anNFC signal, a satellite signal, or a cellular signal.
 15. Theinformation collection and delivery system of claim 13, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further causethe information collection and delivery system to detect a presence of asecond device, wherein the information content rules further determinethe set of information based on the presence of the second device,wherein the location of the remote subscriber is determined from thedevice or the second device.
 16. The information collection and deliverysystem of claim 13, wherein the set of information comprises at leastone of: a status of an account, financial advice, a reminder to pay abill, a reminder to deposit a check, a warning regarding the account, arecap of spending over a period of time, or an advertisement of aproduct or service.
 17. The information collection and delivery systemof claim 13, wherein the device is one of: a radio, a mobile computingdevice, a laptop, a wearable computing device, or a vehicle.